The Murder
by Lady Adelaide of Monmouth
Summary: When a body turns up in a normal day for the Officers of Nottingham, forensics are called but what happens when work, friendship and relationships clash. AU, modern time. AllanOC DjaqWill Slight RobinMarian
1. Chapter One

**Authors Note:** I own no one and nothing except for Charlotte and the plot, sadly,I am only borrowing the characters.

Also, thanks to A. Nutter my ever lovely beta, without whom I would still be wondering if my writing was horrible.

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It was a normal day for some; birds were singing, sun was shining and guns were shooting. Positioned behind a car with a gun in hand, Will Scarlett smacked his friend upside the head. "Every time, Allan! Must you always speak before you think?"

Allan A'Dale looked over, a grin on his face. "Not bein' funny, but it happens sometimes."

Will just glared silently before muttering, "You're never being funny."

Allan smirked and opened his mouth to make a witty comment when a bullet rang out against the car cutting him off. "Robin's not going to be happy when he finds that you ruined his new cruiser.

"Not so cocky now, are you _Officer_?"

Allan smirked at the words and Will shook his head no; he could see every gear grinding in his friends head as he processed those words. "No, Allan!" He harshly whispered so the criminal couldn't hear him. "No."

"Come on, I'll buy you a round afterwards; my treat." The shooting had stopped but they were able to hear a faint clicking signaling that the gun had no more bullets. Will shook his head again but Allan had already left the safety of the car to catch the shooter, and when his friend turned to look, he was successfully pinning the guy to the cruiser and handcuffing him.

"Will?"

"Yes?"

"I'm thinking we are going to need forensics here."

"We don't have a forensics branch - wait, why?" Will cut off his sentence to look at Allan as he pointed to a rubbish bin where a corpse lay, half-covered by a tarpaulin.

"Because of that."

"I'm telling you, Djaq, this is definitely left."

"No, its right."

"Listen to me! It's left."

The argument carried on, remaining along those lines. Djaq, the woman who was saying it was right, was short and petite, her cute features only highlighted by her strange accent and dark skin - but if she heard you say that, you would find a different side of her; her short dark hair plus an army-like jacket hardly looked like they belonged in the lab they were working in. Her partner on the other hand, Charlotte, was just hitting five foot six and her black hair was contrasted with a stripe of red; she was dressed more appropriately for the lab with a white lab coat and a pair of black slacks.

"Fine! It's right. That better Djaq?"

"Ha! I win," she grinned, "Again." This only made Charlotte roll her eyes.

The object they were arguing over was an arm bone belonging to a skeleton just a few feet from them.

"All right you two, police just phoned and they want the two of you. Plus, that bone belongs to that subject, who had a severe case of bone deterioration, in which case you both loose." Marian Sheriff dropped a file onto the desk. She was the daughter of Edward F. Sheriff, a well respected man; even in his current state. "Come on, I will be visiting with you. They've set up a lab in there for us."

As they were walking out Djaq looked to her friend. "I hate it there, all they do is stare at me," Djaq mumbled with a small sigh following it. She grabbed a lab coat and slipped it on easily.

"It's just because you are so beautiful." Charlotte sounded it out as she smiled at the frowning woman. The dark skinned woman said nothing but her friend noticed that she was fighting back a smile.

As they entered the station everyone stopped, including a man who was holding a toasted bagel who had been speaking to the Captain, who had no issue with the man who had just walked in. In fact he walked straight over, "My, Marian, you are looking -"

"No, Robin, we are here on business and business alone."

He looked like a kicked dog for the briefest moment before he recovered, "Much!" The man who had been eating looked up, "Take these ladies to the body. I suggest you do not bring your food."

Much looked disappointed and placed what was left of the bagel on a napkin to be saved for later. He motioned for them to follow him down the hall. "Now, we've set up a room for you in the back with -"

"We brought our equipment," Charlotte snapped, earning a confused look from everyone around her; only, Much managed to look a little hurt, even. "Police Headquarters make me jumpy," she explained.

"Anyway," he said with a glare at her. "Officers Will Scarlett and Allan A'Dale will brief you on your body, corpse... thing."

"Did you figure out decomp.?" Djaq asked quietly, Much only looked confused.

"How long the body has been a body for?" Charlotte looked at him. "You know what, we can figure that out on our own. I'll just stop speaking now."

Much opened a door at the end of the hall and took a few steps back while covering his nose. "This is as far as I am going," he stated before he turned to go back down to his bagel and his conversation with Robin. Everyone knew why he left; the smell of death and old rubbish was an explanation all in itself. They could smell it five feet away from the door.

As they entered the room, Djaq was the first to speak. "Did they get all the bones?" Marian nodded to her former student. "And the contents of the bin?"

"I asked them to," Marian stated simply before handing each girl a mask to cover their noses and mouths so they wouldn't breathe germs in as easily. "I still have a class to teach, good luck, girls." Both replied a simple good bye and laughed at the muffled response.

Charlotte sighed. "At least there's still flesh, that's your area, hon."

"And there is still bone, so you can have your fun." As odd as it sounds, they had encountered the lack of both things on their multiple trips to police station, something they never really liked. Djaq frowned only a second later as she attempted to wrestle her hands into a pair of too large gloves. "Did you bring ours?"

"'Course!" Reaching in a bag, Char pulled out a box of latex gloves before handing a pair to the Saracen. "Ta-da." Charlotte tried to do it dramatically, but as always, it didn't work.

"All right, overall check. Recorder on?"

"Check. Everything sterile?"

"Check. Body?

"Check, but don't you think that is quite obvious?"

"Not the point." A playful smile came upon Djaq's features, but before either of them got close enough to learn anything from the body two men came in and introduced themselves as Will Scarlett and Allan A'Dale. They also said that they would be overseeing the 'project' which Charlotte scoffed at and Djaq had to hide a chuckle; the two of them were the best students the Academy had to offer and there was no way in hell that two police officers could tell either of them what to do.

"All right, so, me and Officer Scarlett here were tryin' to catch this perp an' -" It was Officer A'Dale who spoke first, but his friend stopped him. Though Scarlett was the younger of the two he did not act it, in fact, Allan was the one who ended up acting younger.

"Was there any evidence near the body?" Djaq's accent made the others seem plain and almost boring, "Weapons, clothing, even jewelry?"

All eyes were on her until one of them finally spoke. "No, nothing. The only thing was the tarp that the body was covered with and the rubbish." Every word spoken by Will was well-chosen, as if he were scared to say something that would insult someone in some way.

"Did you search the rubbish?" Charlotte asked and both men looked dumbstruck, as if that had never even occurred to them.

"What?" Charlotte repeated the question to Allan who looked at her like she was crazy, "Are you serious? No! We brought it back for you guys."

Charlotte rolled her eyes, but when she was nudged by the shorter woman, it took them only a second to get the same train of though.

"So, you two are to oversee the operation?" There was a slight mocking tone in her voice as her partner fought back a smile.

"Well, yeah, I guess. We found the body but what does that have to do with rubbish?" Allan still had not caught on but the look on Will's face suggested that he, in fact, had.

"Well, boys, grab some gloves and welcome to the team."

Allan's groan was heard throughout the station, and so were the girls laughs.


	2. Chapter Two

**Authors Note: I own nothing... except for Charlotte. I would very much like to own a shirtless Allan though. Guess I will just have to be satisified with my dreams. Anyways.... sorry it took so long but things got a little hetic. I will try and update the third chapter quicker but this should do for now. ^^. Thanks again to my wonderful beta A. Nutter and to my one reviewer. You guys have to remember that reviews make me update faster. **

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"They. Are. Insane! That is what they are!" Each word was punctuated with a punch as the smaller woman beat the two pads covering the other's hands.

"They're not insane. Stupid maybe, but insane is just a bit too strong a word, even for them." This time a perfect roundhouse kick to her left hand made her glare. "Ouch, Djaq! That one hurt," she snarled as she shook her hand in pain.

"Sorry, but those men are idiots, but what is new? They are men!" She ranted for a moment while waiting for Charlotte to get her pad back onto her hand. Charlotte managed to sneak in a short warning about what would happen if she kicked her like that again before they resumed.

This was how the duo typically vented their anger on their single day off; Sundays always ended up being waking up at seven, heading down to the gym for a few hours of exhausting exercise, ice cream and then back home to watch whatever new movie they had gotten in the mail.

"At least they're something to stare at," Charlotte mumbled, looking around the gym. All she saw were weak bodybuilder posers, fat old men running on tread mills and – "Oh my God!" She said it so fast it turned to one word and in her own shock she dropped both hands. This only resulted in getting a kick planted in her stomach and her friend looking completely confused on how this had happened.

"Sorry!" Djaq put a hand on her friends shoulder, wanting to help her get back up and both of them took a moment to regain their breath. "What was that for? Why did you say 'Oh my God'?"

Char pulled Djaq down to her level even more, "They're here! Over by the weights."

Djaq turned her head to look but Charlotte forced her to look back at her with her hand. "No! Don't look," she harshly whispered. Djaq partially thought she was being too dramatic and the other part just wanted to get out of here so they did not have to deal with them.

Djaq managed to see that four of them where at the gym, including Will who was casually spotting Allan on a bench press and Robin was helping another one of the members from the Headquarters - the tall man who looked strong enough to beat anyone to a pulp as it was. They had only managed to see him twice out of their five trips to the Station; apparently he was one of the ones who happened to constantly be called - people just happened to fear him. Djaq could see why. "I have never seen them here before." Djaq murmured.

"Neither have I, so how about we scram before they see us?" Charlotte offered.

"Why? We were here first," Djaq scowled. Something was up with her friend, every time she saw those men or went to the station she was a different person. Charlotte never wanted to skip the gym; she always wanted to stay longer than Djaq could stand.

"Are we in first grade? Let's just go," she stared at her friend, light eyes meeting darker ones, "Please." She pleaded.

"Fine, but you owe me an ice-cream." Djaq attempted to lighten the mood, her eyes sparkling as she saw her friend give a small smile.

Char nodded, black and red ponytail swaying behind her, "Deal, lets hit the showers." They both threw the pads on the ground and left for the locker rooms; no one said anything as they both got lost in their own thoughts.

Djaq was quickly towel-drying her hair while her friend was still in the shower and was either drowning herself or hiding, so it would probably be another half an hour before she dare show herself.

"Don't drown yourself! I am going to get a bottle of water!" she yelled over the sound of rushing water and she gave a small laugh as she heard a 'darn it' from inside the shower. Apparently drowning was better than seeing any police officers.

She was extremely excited when she saw that there was no line to the lone vending machine, something that rarely ever happened; she was sure that God was smiling on her for this occurrence. It took her only a minute to press the buttons and retrieve a water from the body but not before the door closed on her fingers making her swear. Turning around, she nursed her fingers. There was no way she could Char know about this or she would be laughed at, no question about it.

She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she walked straight into the chest of the man who had been standing behind her, her slight blush increased into a full blown one when she realized that she had just run into Will, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize –"

He cut her off. "Are you alright?" Djaq looked confused, "Your finger?"

She could have smacked herself, she had forgotten about the incident as soon as she had run into his chest. "Um, yes, its fine. I really should go. Got to go see if Charlotte's alright and um, sorry again. I'll see you later," she mumbled before pushing past him and back into the girls' locker room. She barely heard his 'goodbye' as she leaned against the wall and sank down. The only thing good out of that was her finger didn't hurt… Only her pride was now wounded.

"Alright, come on! Ice-cream is on _moi._" Charlotte was clean and happy, hair pinned back and make up applied, but as soon as she saw her slightly distraught and still-blushing friend she crouched down to her level. "What's wrong?" she questioned, her concern showing as she placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Nothing, nothing is wrong."

"Come on, I recorded this new TV show, it's about England during the Third Crusade."

Djaq couldn't help but laugh. Charlotte was always starting some new show, week nights were filled with recorded episodes of show that needed to be seen to understand next week's episode. Thinking of all this made it easier for Djaq to forget about the incident.

"You still have to buy me ice-cream," she nodded matter-of-factly, and Charlotte punched the air in defeat.

"Darn it. I had hoped my innocent act had made you forget it."


	3. Chapter Three

**Authors Note: So, so, so, so sorry about the absence! I feel bad for saying if you reply that will get you a quicker update, I have a newer beta one who I know in person so I can actually yell at her if she doesn't edit my story. Anyways, there is a poll on my profile that will make me feel much better if you reply to it. The next chapter will be up in a week, I promise. If not sooner. Replies still make me feel really good, even if they are saying how crappy I am.**

Monday had to be Djaq's least favourite day; it meant going to work for six more extremely long days. It didn't make her any happier when she felt someone bouncing on her bed, and she was quite sure it wasn't the male she happened to like. "Djaq! Djaq!"

What?" Her response was muffled as she had pulled a pillow over her head to block out the light that had entered her room when her friend did.

"There's only a week 'till Halloween!"

"Yes, and your point is?"

"We don't have costumes!" Charlotte stated as if it was the simplest thing to understand in the world. "Personally, I was thinking we could all go in matching costumes, Marian, you and I. Maybe from the Crusade's period."

"Did you get this from your new T.V. show?"

"Maybe..." Charlotte tried her hand at looking innocent while her friend was marveling at how awake she was. "Coffee in the kitchen."

That alone was enough for Djaq to drag herself out of bed, for she was out of the room and down the hallway to the kitchen in a matter of seconds. Her hand reached for the cup but she thought against it, as she might as well take her shower first. At least she could keep a constant flow of coffee after that. Djaq dragged herself down the hallway as she heard Char humming some jaunty tune, "So, who are you getting to make the costumes this year?" She yelled over the sound of the water she had just started.

"I was thinking that we could make them this year." Her answer took her a minute but Djaq didn't need the spare time to answer.

"No! And I will not wear a dress either!" She stated, but instead of the expected yell back instead all she heard was a giggle, "What are you doing?"

Another giggle, "Trying to text someone but they put the buttons so damn close on the phone that it is, in fact, quite hard. Okay, seeing as you won't make the outfit, or wear a dress -" She managed to sneak in a rude comment under her breath and Djaq sighed then retorted with a swear in her own native tongue. "I found a nice lady, she's been making dresses for years. I can see if she can make you something. Party-pooper."

"You swore you would never make me wear a dress again. Remember last year," Djaq pointed out sticking a hand above the shower curtain to make her point, "my heel broke and I accidentally hit two men with it!"

"You did that on purpose! How do you accidentally hit someone with a heel? They go on your feet, not in your hands."

"I did no such thing. I was carrying them, which makes sense if one was broken."

"You did to, you wanted to get out of that party."

Djaq stepped out of the shower, a green towel wrapped around her, "Hey! That's my phone!" She snatched it out of Charlotte's hands before looking up, anger in her eyes, "You did not set that as my ringtone!"

"_Sexy Baby, you drive me crazy!_" Charlotte laughed for a minute before turning and running down the stairs to her car. She would deal with Djaq later.

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"Will, mate, you alright?" Allan looked to his quiet friend. Normally the silence didn't bother him but today's silence was different, "You've been weird since the gym. Did those bratty kids next door steal your carving stuff again?"

"What?" Will looked up, "No."

"Alright, then." Allan held up his hands, the universal sign that he wasn't going to push that matter further. "The girls are coming again today to reconfirm what they found." Will looked up as his friend spoke, fighting the smile that threatened his features, and if Allan noticed he didn't say anything. "Which means we no longer have to dig through trash."

"We still do. Djaq told me that all sorts of information can be found by analyzing evidence. In this case, trash."

Allan frowned at the comment. "Djaq?" He raised his eyebrows, "At least you can get her to talk to you. I talk to either of them and all I get is smart ass comments."

"That's because you hit on both of them. At the same time may I add. It took me months to finally get used to you and your behaviour."

Their conversation was interrupted by a slamming door and Charlotte with a slightly wild look on her face, "Good, she's not here." She whispered to herself before looking to the other two, "Alright, boys, body time."

"Where's Djaq?" Came the question from a very confused Will and much quieter, for once, confused Allan.

"She got, um, caught up. She'll be here soon enough." Charlotte wondered how she could control them. Allan was going to be the biggest problem, as normally it took both her and Djaq yelling to silence the annoying man. "Alright, so yesterday we found out that the victim has hesitation cuts around the left knee cap. This means a couple of the different things; the killer knew the person, the killer was a novice, or he simply felt bad about killing."

"A killer who feels bad about killing? Wait, so we are trying to find a seventeen year old who was friends with a killer?"

"Funny, Mr. A'Dale."

"I'm being serious."

"Yeah, well, so am I!" Charlotte yelled as Djaq strode in through the door. The Englishwoman looked ashamed while the Saracen just shook her head.

"You will be paying for those." Came the snarled words before she took her place next to Will, "Find anything new?" Her chipper, accented voice was back as she sent a small smile to her companions.

"Yes, a dead body belonging to Officer A'Dale over there." Charlotte motioned with her thumb, as the two males said no in response to the question.

Djaq rolled her eyes, it was going to be a long day, she could tell already. "Well, I have. Apparently my boss just got a call from your boss. Another body has been found." She shook her head, "Close by too." Both girls looked to each other as did the boys, "There was a note as well 'My men have you surrounded. A clue? No.'"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Will asked, his gaze fixed on the body until Djaq spoke again.

"Serial Killer 101. Taunt your enemies."

"Enemies? Now wait a second -" Allan held up his hands, looking at everyone's faces. Angry, scared, frustrated, each emotion stared back at him.

"There is no hold button! He declared us his enemy the minute we picked up that body. We might as well face it now." Though no one wanted to admit it, those words were the truth. They were right, there was nothing to get them out of this.


	4. Chapter Four

**Hey, it's Addy here, again, I told you I would forget about all of you. Here is the next chapter which is hitting a new mark for me. 2000 words thanks to all of you guys because you actually inspire me to get off of my lazy butt and do something. Also, check on my profile for a lovely little link, don't forget to vote in the poll and don't forget to review.**

**I own NOTHING. 'Cept Charlotte, I desperately wish I owned Allan though…**

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"This is ridiculous."

"Hey, you're the one who agreed to it."

"And Marian is the one who said we had to go. But on the bright side, all our costumes will match."

Djaq shook her head; figures Charlotte would be the one to think of that, "I cannot tie this!" She cried, frustrated at her bodice. She looked over to her friend who was carefully tightening her own bodice with a look of slight smugness.

"I'll help you, just hold on a minute." She paused and carefully tied the knot so that it wouldn't find a way to untie itself. She then walked over to her friend, grabbing the strings and beginning to lace the piece up. "I can't believe Marian said we had to go."

"You just do not want to see Allan. I think you may like him." Djaq smirked and Char tugged extra hard on the laces making Djaq gasp for breath for a brief second.

"I do not like that selfish, pig-headed man." She grumbled, looking slightly mad that Djaq would even suggest suck a thing.

"Actually, those are the only men you do like." Both girls had do admit that she had a point; the Englishwoman didn't have the best choice in men.

"Fine, then!" Another hard tug, "What about you and Will, huh? I've seen they way you look at him."

Djaq sighed as Charlotte tied the knot. Finally, "You are hopeless." Was the only remark she made.

&&&&&&&&&&&

"This is ridiculous."

"You agreed to it, Allan."

"Yes well, Robin's the one who made attendance mandatory for all of us."

"Thank God there are no tights." Will spoke, looking at their slightly odd and slightly forester looking costumes.

"Instead we have pre-picked dance partners and we can't even see their faces. All we get is fake names and costumes."

"Yeah, well, who's your partner?"

"Someone called Lady Evelyn of Maltby." Allan frowned, what kind of name was that and where in hell was Maltby? "You?"

"Saffiyah of Sherwood. This is going to be bloody great." Will shook his head while Allan shrugged, it's not like they had a choice now.

"We look like we belong to a gang." Allan whispered, slightly fearful of the matching outfits both of them were wearing; though each was different it was obvious their costumes matched together. Maybe it was the dirt on them or the outfits themselves they just did not seem right.

"We look like a gang alright. We are Robin's Merry Men."

"I'm going to kill him."

&&&&&&&&&&&

"Alright, girls. Masks?" Marian silently slid her mask over her brown curls so it covered most of her face. She was hardly recognizable. "Everyone got their new identities?"

"Yes." Djaq stated proudly, holding a manila envelope, "I am Saffiyah. I cannot believe you gave them my actual name though."

"And I am Lady Evelyn of Maltby."

"Alright then, according to Robin we will each get our introductions and then our partners will lead us off." Marian sighed, "Good job on hiding the red, Charlotte." She added quickly noticing the red was completely hidden while her hair was put into a complicated twist. Djaq on the other hand was unable to hid her short hair unless she wanted to wear a wig or hat, both of which she denied. "Now take a deep breath. We all go in at the same time. Three."

Charlotte sighed, "Two."

"One!" Djaq's accented voice was the only one that did not sound nervous. In fact, the Saracen sounded happy to finally go inside.

All three easily stepped inside the room, "Introducing -" A man in an old-fashioned court uniform called out as he looked at a piece of paper, "Lady Katherine of Nottingham." A masked man took Marian's hand, his own outfit consisted of what looked like an actual re-curved bow and quiver along with a curved sword, they both disappeared into the crowd. The two remaining girls knew that they wouldn't be hard to find, Marian in a stunning red dress and then man who carried weapons. "Lady Evelyn of Maltby." A similar process happened, a masked man carefully walked over and grabbed Charlotte's hand. His own outfit was very much similar to the other mans, except his weapon was a plain sword, and soon they too disappeared into the crowd until Djaq was standing alone. "Saffiyah of Sherwood." A third man came up, once more similarly dressed as the other two yet slightly different, especially for the fact that he had an axe strapped onto his belt as a weapon.

They slowly migrated towards the refreshment table, where a few other couples lingered, still not ready to actually dance with their partners, "So, Lady Saffiyah." The masked man started but Djaq had already interrupted him.

"No. Just Saffiyah. I am not a regular lady."

He nodded, a slight laugh coming from his lips; he liked this woman. She had spunk, not like most of the woman who, as it was a costume ball, were playing how their characters would have acted. "I am Luke and apparently you shall be my date for the night."

Those words sent a slight thrill through Djaq's body, she already had a guess of who 'Luke' was but who was she to ruin a good time? No, she would let this play out for a while longer. The only thing she could ask Allah for was that it actually be Will and not someone else. That would be quite embarrassing.

The two of them kept a gentle banter up, joking about their 'villages' and about their 'lives', while on the other side of the room Lady Katherine smiled looking to her own man. "The girls look ready to kill us." Well, she believed that of one of them, Djaq was not as easy to read.

"Charlotte I expect it from." Robin looked over to where Charlotte was standing with her partner who was pleading with her for something, "Djaq though? No, Djaq is enjoying this."

"Will does seem to have taken a liking to her but-"

"But what?" He looked her straight in the eyes, daring her to say something against one of his men, "They are all good men, even if it doesn't seem so. Their hearts are in the right place." He spoke quietly, his eyes now turning to look at Will and Allan, each talking with their partners, even if they were talking in different ways. One pleading and the other laughing.

"It is nothing against them!" Marian quickly defended, "Work relationships are hard and I wouldn't be able to deal with two hurt girls." She snapped out the last part of her sentence making Robin smirk, he knew that they both cared for their younger partners in a way a parent would care for a child. No, in fact it was more like an older sibling, occasionally getting them in trouble but in the end doing the best for them.

"Speaking from experience?" He let out a chuckle then. This was why he loved Marian, her spirit and personality was different than any other woman he had every met.

"I'm being serious, both of those girls have been through bad times and lets face it, men are not the best people to fix it. In fact, they usually just make it worse." Marian turned to look at Lady Evelyn who was firmly refusing a dance from her partner.

"I will not dance!" She hissed but the hurt look in her partners eyes made her frown, as he had been nice to her so far, "Fine, but one dance is all. Agreed?"

"Thank you, m'lady." He gave a small bow and Char couldn't help but wonder why men couldn't actually normally act like this instead of pig-headed like Allan A'Dale. She easily decided that he had to be from out of town, if he had been in town before she would have already jumped on the bandwagon.

He led her to the floor as the large orchestra band that Robin had probably paid a pretty penny for struck up a slow tune. "So, m'lady Evelyn, how is the fine town of Maltby?"

With the costumes and names it wasn't too hard to easily slip into character, it just made everything so much more fun, "Crops are growing well but mad dogs have began to appear and slaughtered a large portion of our cattle, Tom." She was glad that he had stated his name in the beginning, and she was even gladder that it was not Allan.

"Well, I shall come and get rid of those dogs, so you do not have to deal with them of course." He gave her a wink and brought her hand to his lip before kissing it lightly, "So I know you are safe."

As their conversation continued more couples joined the dance, including Saffiyah and Luke who managed to appear next to Evelyn and Thomas. The two girls managed to share a secret smile while the boys shared twin cocky grins, neither one noticed what the other had done but all noticed they were having a good time. Maybe a costume party wasn't so bad.

The night carried on and Thomas had convinced Evelyn to join him on the dance floor a few more times until everyone was smiling. The next thing anyone knew it was well past midnight and Robin had taken the microphone from the singer, and was calling for everyone's attention. He, unlike most of the guests, had not touched more than a glass of alcohol and so could speak properly still. "I would like to thank everyone for coming and obeying my wishes of costumes and pre-picked dance partners."

"No, thank you, Robin!" Came a call from Alice Little, John Little's wife. She obviously stood next to her large husband who had an arm around her shoulders.

Robin laughed and nodded, most people in the room managed to throw in a laugh as well, it was clear that Alice had found her way to the alcohol, something odd for the woman. "I would like to ask you all to remove your masks." Everyone paused for a moment, looking around and wondering if they really should do it, a few had already figured out their partners or had been told while the dancing was going on, others were still completely in the dark.

Saffiyah and Luke were the first two to removed their masks but both had already pieced together who it was and they each managed to turn the exact same color through blushing, though. Djaq, as the braver of the two, managed to give him a small hug, only making each face redder.

Next to her Evelyn slowly slid off her own mask and waited for her partner to do the same. Most of the room was waiting to see everyone else's reaction, including Djaq and Will plus Robin and Marian. Finally Thomas slid his mask off.

"You?" Charlotte's one word was an accusation as she glared at Allan who had managed to conceal his surprise that he had been dancing with Charlotte without getting insulted. Djaq sadly broke apart from Will to place a comforting hand on her friends shoulder, "I can't believe this." She shook her head, shrugging off the Saracen's hand; Robin and Marian had set her up! What a cruel joke this was.

"Listen, I can explain," Allan started looking to the Englishwoman but any and all words failed him at the moment because if looks could kill, he would have been dead five times already.

For the briefest second in time she considered slapping him, making him regret doing this but instead she stomped out of the room, almost twisting an ankle because of a misstep due to her heels. Marian followed soon after, saying a brief goodbye to Robin, as they had taken her car so it would be helpful if Charlotte did go home. Djaq left next, parting from Will with a sad sigh, she bid him goodnight and turned to leave but returned and pecked him lightly on the cheek causing him to blush. More.

When both girls got outside they saw a pouting Charlotte leaning against Marian's car, "I was going to walk but my heel broke," was her only explanation. No more words were spoken that night.

**Now, how was that for a chapter? Charlotte was bit over the top I guess but thats just who she is. Anyways, I just thought that I would put in a little note that the next chapter will be coming soon.**


	5. Chapter Five

**Hello everyone! Hope you enjoy this chapter because I enjoyed writing it, each character got a little bit of attitude during it though. Cheeky bums. Anyways, you have one last chance to vote in the poll, it would help if I could have a vote that breaks the tie of the two votes. Also, comments make me feel good, my goal at the end of the story is to have at least twenty, I hope there will be more. Anyways, thanks to my beta and thanks to my few reviewers.**

There was a series of rapid knocks on the door, "Go 'way, Djaq!" Came a muffled, groggy voice. It was obvious to Charlotte as Djaq groaned on the other side of the door that she wasn't going to back down this easy.

"It's been two days, Char, two days! Time to get off your lazy ass and get back in the lab." Anyone could tell Djaq was pissed, even if the door hid her face.

Charlotte pulled the covers off her head, not that anyone could see her, "Just tell them I died, no one will really mind."

"Charlotte, get out of bed now or I will break down this door!" Came a different voice, an English one.

"Marian?" Charlotte sat up, "How many people are outside my door?"

"Marian, Alice, Robin, Me and Will." Came Djaq's now slightly sheepish voice followed by a large sum of hello's.

"You expect me to leave my room with that herd of people here? Wait, did you just say Will?" She leapt off of the bed and opened the door the slightest inch so that she could actually see that Will was there. She had to gloat in her mind, at least for a second, "I knew it! Wait a second, why'd you let _him_ in our apartment?"

Djaq slammed her foot in the crack of the door, preventing it from closing. "Because we need you at the station, you are much better at bones than I am."

"But-"

"That's why we are all here," Alice Little chimed in, for once not with her husband, "Well, we woman are here to cheer you up. Djaq said if some men were here you would open the door."

_Good job, Djaq..._ "I guess this means I have to come out now?"

"Uh-huh."

"And go to work?" Djaq just nodded, "Fine, I'll get ready. Give me an hour."

"An hour? That's ridiculous." Robin was nudged sharply by Marian to keep quiet and he soon did but not before mumbling something that sounded like a sarcastic 'women!'.

&&&&&&&&

Will had just come back from the girls apartment, he had been there earlier than everyone else, seeing as it was a social call but Djaq had soon convinced him to help her get Charlotte out of bed. He willingly volunteered, no pun intended, just for the fact that if Charlotte was okay than Allan would leave him alone with the constant questions of 'what the hell is wrong with her?' and 'what the hell did I do?'; after a while they just got annoying. Personally, he didn't understand what Allan had done wrong, at least on that occasion, and why she reacted so strongly, maybe it was just a women thing. But Djaq had never acted like that.

The thoughts continued to plague him as he settled into his 'desk' at work, desks were the only spot you had to yourself in the entire station and even at times these places got invaded.

Like now: "How is she?" Allan questioned as he leaned against the divider between his and Will's desks.

"Djaq's fine and Charlotte said she was going to come in today."

"Oh, well that's good." Allan mumbled. Why he actually cared about Charlotte he didn't know. She was stubborn, spoiled and a bitch at points in line, none of that made a perfect relationship; then again, he wasn't one for perfect. Why else did he really have to care for women if not for a relationship? Perfect relationships didn't exist with Allan A'Dale; first of all he was usually the ones ruining them. Secondly, he just wasn't a man to be tied down to one woman; they always ended up being demanding and just a pain in his -

"Allan!" His train of thought crashed and he jerked his head up at the sound of John's voice, or Little John as he was called in the station.

"Yes?"

"Robin won't be in today."

"Why?" John shook his head; he wasn't going to be the one to tell Allan that the reason Robin wasn't in today was because he wanted to spend time with Marian. He turned his head to Will and whispered, just low enough so Allan couldn't hear, "Him, something's wrong with." Everyone in the station had grown accustomed to John's backwards way of talking, and at points it was quite comforting to hear his familiar voice.

"Alright." Allan said nonchalantly while picking at a pealing piece of paint on his desk, sadly, the others left him to mull over his thoughts.

Will had known Allan for a good chunk of his life, they had known each other when they were younger but became friends at the Police Academy. It had been the first day of training and many were scared to ask questions but Allan just asked when they got to use actual guns. At first, Will though it obnoxious, after all who really asked those questions? But in the end they winded up as friends and he had only seen his friend this distracted one other time in his life. When his brother, Tom, had died two years ago. Their relationship wasn't the best but it still affected the older A'Dale.

That was when the source, and possibly the cure, of all their problems walked through the door with her beautiful dark skinned friend attached to her arm, talking about something or other. Will could relate to the look on Charlotte's face, it was the same one he had whenever Allan would talk about his latest girl, it was the attempting-to-fake-interest-but-boredom-won-out-in-the-end look. He did notice how her eyes flickered over to Allan, even if it was only for the slightest second in time. They argued for a second before Charlotte retreated into the back room to go back to examining the body.

Djaq on the other hand made her way over to where all three men still stood. Little John backed away and retreated, stating that he still had paperwork to complete. Allan on the other hand, found the unpainted spot of wood very interesting all of a sudden.

"How is she?" Will questioned as he watched Charlotte disappear.

Djaq shrugged, "She's been better, but she has been worse. Give her a few days." Allan looked up, his look stating what both boys were thinking. It has already been a few days, "A few more. She heals quick, she always does."

"Should I stay away? Not being funny but she looks ready to kill me."

Djaq shook her head, black bangs moving slightly, "No, she needs to realize that as much as she hates it, you two are working together and you two are partners. In fact now that the body total is on the rise and Marian expects foul play we are being split up. Allan, you and Charlotte will be working at the actual lab while Will and I are here."

"You've got to be joking!" Allan nearly shouted, "You pair me up with someone who wants to kill me?"

"She would not kill you, it's too messy. She'd hire someone to do it." She stated simply, "You move there today, we have already moved the bodies."

Will knew this but couldn't help but wonder why Char was still lurking out back if there were no more bodies, "Why-"

"She probably assumes she is safe there. Allan, I suggest you take the cruiser, I will tell Charlotte of the decision." With that the Saracen gave Will a kind smile and walked off to the back room.

"Don't look at me." Was Will's only response to the glare he was receiving from Allan.

"I'm going to go get the car." And then before Will even knew it, Allan had pushed himself away from the desks and out the door.

"What?!" Came the slightly dulled yell from the back room, "I am going to kill Marian!"

Will shook his head. Poor Allan. Lucky Will.

After a few minutes of silence a furious Charlotte emerged, face red and anger burning in her eyes. She strode straight out the door as Djaq walked over to Will, "Sometimes I worry about her but I think I worry more for Allan right now."

He nodded. If Charlotte and Allan ever got together he was sure the headaches now would be nothing compared to what he would get from his friend's rants about his crazy girlfriend.

There was an awkward silence, neither really knowing what to do when a slightly worried, slightly jumpy Much walked it, "Well, I have bad news and more bad news." Those words got everyone's attention, especially at a time like this. Everyone left in the precinct gathered close, "Robin is not here and…we are out of food."

"Much!" Nearly everyone yelled.

"What? It is a crisis! What am I supposed to cook?"

"Shut up, Much." Will murmured only to be nudged by Djaq.

"But-"

"Be quiet." She stated calmly, "They have stores for reasons."

"But Robin usually-"

"Ah!" Djaq threw up her hands into the air, "I give up! First dead bodies, and now a food shortage. Is there always something to complain about?" This was followed by a swear in her native tongue.

"Don't get him started on Eve." Will pleaded, so low only she could hear.

Djaq's only reply was to hold up her hands in surrender and say, "I do not want to know."


	6. Chapter Six

**Alright, I will fully accept any rotten tomatoes, shoes or other various objects thrown at me. You should all be happy to know that the actual story is completely hand written, I just need to get my butt in gear and type it. This story will be a total of thirteen chapters and though I have a plot for a sequel I want to know what you think. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. As for answers to the poll I will be trying to get around to making a Will/Djaq one-shot, check on my profile for another question about the one-shot. Or tell me through a reply, would you prefer The Murder time or the actual RH time. Either way is fine with _moi._ On with the show!**

Djaq really didn't understand anymore. Ever since the Halloween masquerade, Will had been acting as if nothing had happened between them. It was frustrating to no end, even though she knew it wasn't like him to be completely and utterly smitten, but a little something would have been nice. A hug, a smile, anything! Then again there wasn't anything more romantic than standing over a dead body.

"Third one in two weeks. Who ever is out there is sick."

"Yes but look here-" Djaq pointed to a spot where the skin was beginning to get taunt over the bones, "This body is beginning the mummification stage. He's been here longer than any of the others."

Will nodded, amazed that she could get such details from one small patch of taunt skin. How did someone even get into a business like this? It certainly wasn't a normal one. Djaq looked over to him, "This one will be going to our section of the lab."

"Our part?" All Will knew was tat the lab was a huge sterile room, he didn't really think that it had been divided into sections.

Djaq nodded, "The station isn't a sterile enough environment for bodies," she gave him a small smile before turning back to work, "The others had very little skin so Charlotte and I had to work together to get all the information, but with this amount of tissue I can examine it myself. Then we will be able to get the beetles in so she can examine the bones."

Will winced at the sound of beetles. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they could do. He was really beginning to wonder how someone got into this job and who would actually want it. This girl amazed him.

Suddenly a phone rang and the ring tone it played left Will extremely puzzle: '_And all the girlies say I'm pretty fly for a white_'.

"Next time can you make your ring tone a little more appropriate?" Djaq had pulled the phone from her pocket and was now talking on it while poking the body with a blue rubber glove; with her spare hand she put the phone on speaker.

"We found Cause of Death." Came Charlotte's oddly serious voice, "No! Don't touch that!" Came the stressed tone followed by a loud crash.

Djaq sighed, she could only image what Allan was destroying in their lab, "What was that? What do you have for C.O.D.?"

A heavy sigh from the Englishwoman followed by a sheepish sorry in the background made Djaq shake her head while Will tried to keep a serious face, "That would be my shepherding trophy." Will laughed loudly, "Hey! I heard that, you little-"

"Char! Cause of death!" Djaq barked into the phone. She was having a hard time joking over a dead body; it left little humor.

"Alright, alright!" Another deep breath, "Bullet wounds on the first victim found at the back of the skull and a bullet was found in the left shoulder blade. Also, impressions on the left hip, it looks as if she was branded.

Will chimed in next with the million dollar questions, "Could you get a letter? Or a symbol?"

"Hey, Will!" This time Allan's cheery voice came from the other end of the phone and Djaq rolled her eyes, "Yeah, it looks like a bird. Feel bad for the bloke though, same branding but got shot in the kneecaps. So Charlotte says it means-"

"Torture." Djaq's voice was now quiet and low, "Allan put Charlotte on!" Her voice was harsh and rough with an emotion that Will could not identify. Hate? Fear? Sadness? He couldn't pick it out but instead of working through it he placed a comforting hand on her much smaller shoulder.

"I think its him, Djaq. Who else would do something like this? And the branding?"

"It is the same symbol as his ring." She stated, her breath came in shaky sighs, giving away the fact she was near the verge of tears, "Charlotte, I am going to go somewhere, I just need an hour or so."

"Don't do anything stupid, Djaq. God help if you do because-"

"Allah help us all." She whispered as she closed the phone, cutting of the other woman's rant.

"Djaq." It wasn't a question or meant to be a statement, just her name. The look on Will's face said everything. He was confused and puzzled but the most prominent emotion was worry. He didn't like seeing her like this.

She was quiet for a moment before pulling out her phone and texting a quick message on her phone, "Let us go somewhere, then I will tell you. Char will pick up the body.

&&&&&&&

Djaq had taken him to the sea, a rocky bay that on occasion harbored ships but usually only those that were doing extremely illegal operations. "Sea air makes me feel calm, reminds me of home." She told him and this only served to puzzle the Englishman further. She lived with Char, in a small apartment as far from the sea as possible, how was that reminding her of this? Djaq caught sight of the look, "I wasn't born here. I mean my _true_ home. The Holy Land, some call it. Not so holy anymore."

"Djaq-"

"No let me speak. Charlotte is the only person who knows this, so let me speak." Will nodded, he figured he was about to get inside look on Djaq and so he placed an arm, a little bit hesitantly, around her waist. Then, she started, "When I came here was I was quite young, sixteen I believe, and there was a lot going on back home and my father worked as a healer for wounded soldiers but he was also an alchemist. I loved my father and he loved me but his studies and theories were his life, his essence so to speak. He would sell them for no price, and my brother, he would stand up for my father no matter what the cost was."

Djaq could feel the tears pricking at her eyes while remembering them, but she fought them back refusing to be seen as weak. "One day a man came for one of the recipes to my fathers potions, he said he would pay anything but both my brother and father refused, so that man killed my mother. Shocked, he was, when they still said no, so he gave them the night to think about it and if they did not give it to him, he would kill me."

She stopped for a moment to blink away a tear, she didn't notice that Will's hands were managing to clench tighter and tighter into fists as the story continued on. "So we cute my hair, I took my brothers clothes and his name, they told me to come back in a week. And for a week I was my brother. I was Djaq, men treated me different, I had more respect as a boy, I quite liked it. When I came back to the house it was quiet and so I figured that maybe they too had left." Now tears had begun to run silently and freely and Will pulled her closer to him in an attempt to comfort her, "They had been killed and the eagle symbol had been branded into their flesh. So I left, scared and weak-" She spat out the words out.

Will shook his head, "You are anything but weak."

She took a deep breath, not believing him, and continued, "I snuck on a boat and left for England, I enrolled myself in school so one day I could prove my father's and brother's murders. And I met Charlotte, no one would speak to me but when a nasty rumor was started, she punched the man in the face and, in her words, told him to mind his own business. After that Marian took us in, and you know the rest." It seemed to Djaq that a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders now that he knew about her past.

"No one should have to go through that. I swear to you, I will catch him and he will be punished." There was such ferocity in his voice that Djaq had no doubt that he truly meant it. No words were left in her throat, all that was left was tears and for the first time since their deaths she let herself cry, she leaned into Will's chest and cried. All he could do was whisper comforting words and rub her back, all while wishing there was more he could do. Though he was content to her help like that, on the inside he was filled with rage and wanted to do nothing more than kill that bastard; he didn't even deserve to breath air and drink water.


End file.
